Principal Investigator(s):Haapanen, Rudy A., State of California. Department of the Youth Authority. Program Research and Review Division

Summary:

This study was designed to measure changes that occur in
criminal behavior as offenders move through life. It investigated the
patterns of criminal behavior that occurred over ten to fifteen years
for men whose early criminal involvement was serious enough to result
in commitment to California Youth Authority (state-level)
institutions. The main focus of the study was on changes in criminal
behavior as these men moved through their 20s and into their 30s. This
study extended and expanded ... (more info)

This study was designed to measure changes that occur in
criminal behavior as offenders move through life. It investigated the
patterns of criminal behavior that occurred over ten to fifteen years
for men whose early criminal involvement was serious enough to result
in commitment to California Youth Authority (state-level)
institutions. The main focus of the study was on changes in criminal
behavior as these men moved through their 20s and into their 30s. This
study extended and expanded the follow-up data for the study EARLY
IDENTIFICATION OF THE CHRONIC OFFENDER, [1978-1980: CALIFORNIA] (ICPSR
8226). Half of the sample from the earlier study was used in the
present study, along with smaller samples of adult offenders with no
history of state-level commitments as juveniles. These data allow for
analyses of adult patterns of criminal behavior and the relationship
of the patterns to various explanatory variables. Part 1, Offense
Data, contains arrest information covering the period after parole
from the California Youth Authority through the date of data
collection. Variables include entry and release dates to jail,
prison, or probation, the most serious offense and charge, total
number of offenses for violent, property, and all crimes, and dates of
arrest, offense codes, and number of counts for all arrests.
These arrest data incorporate the arrest data contained in EARLY
IDENTIFICATION OF THE CHRONIC OFFENDER, [1978-1980: CALIFORNIA]
(ICPSR 8226) for all California Youth Authority cases in the current
study. Part 2,
Arrest Data by Age and Year, contains counts of arrest charges by type
of offense (violent or nonviolent) and by age and calendar year. Part
3, Arrest Data for Specific Offenses, contains counts of more specific
arrest charges for four-year age blocks (from 18 through 30-plus) for
21 types of offenses, including murder, assault, rape, robbery,
burglary, theft, forgery, arson, and drug possession. Variables
include months of street time, months of incarceration, and total
arrests. Part 4, Prison and Probation Data, contains information on
prison or probation terms and arrest and lifestyle characteristics for
the year immediately prior to and following jail or prison. Variables
include family criminal history, family life, education, entry and
release dates, offenses, treatment and training while incarcerated,
gang affiliation, psychological evaluation, drug use, employment
history, and marital status. Part 5, Social History Data, contains
lifestyle characteristics by age and year. Variables include drug and
alcohol use, marital status, living arrangements, and employment
history. All files contain age and race variables.

The user guide, codebook, and data collection instruments
are provided as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format
was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF
reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to
obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided through the ICPSR Website
on the Internet.

Methodology

Study Purpose:
This study was designed to measure changes that
occur in criminal behavior as offenders move through life. Some key
research questions were: (1) Why do some offenders go to prison early
in life, while others enter later? (2) Does criminal behavior decline
as offenders age, or do offenders simply stop their criminal behavior
altogether at some point? (3) Is the amount of criminal behavior
committed by offenders related to their employment or family life or
the use of drugs, as these change over time? This study attempted to
answer these questions by investigating the patterns of criminal
behavior that occurred over a ten- to fifteen-year period for some
1,300 men whose early criminal involvement was serious enough to
result in commitment to California Youth Authority (state-level)
institutions. The main focus of the study was on changes in criminal
behavior as these men moved through their 20s and into their
30s. The goal was to determine whether a policy of selectively
sentencing offenders to prison for longer terms could work to
substantially reduce crime. To that end, the study was organized
primarily around investigating whether the criminal behavior of the
offenders in this sample was reasonably stable.

Study Design:
This study extended and expanded the follow-up
data for the study EARLY IDENTIFICATION OF THE CHRONIC OFFENDER,
[1978-1980: CALIFORNIA] (ICPSR 8226). That study analyzed data on
subsequent arrests (using the most serious charge for each arrest
incident) over a ten- to fifteen-year period and used attitudinal,
background, and psychological data retained from earlier studies to
predict subsequent offense behavior for juvenile and young adult
offenders committed to the California Youth Authority. Half of this
sample was used in the present study, along with smaller samples of
adult offenders with no history of state-level commitments as
juveniles. More complete arrest histories were obtained, and
information on demographics, family background, adult drug use,
marital status, and employment was coded from prison and/or probation
files. These data allow for extensive analyses of adult patterns of
criminal behavior and the relationship of the patterns to various
explanatory variables. Information on a single prison term (for those
with such terms) or jail/probation term (for cases with such term
information available but without prison terms) was also coded. Data
on arrests and time incarcerated prior to and after these sentences
were used to assess career stability over time and estimate the
incapacitation effects of increased sentence lengths.

Sample:
The sample used for this study consisted of three
subsamples: (1) half of the sample from ICPSR 8226 (n = 1,308), (2) a
sample of adult prisoners who were convicted of robbery or burglary
and who had no known history of state-level juvenile commitments (n =
175), and (3) a sample of adult probationers who were sentenced to
jail and/or probation for either robbery or burglary who had no prior
juvenile or adult state-level commitments (n = 98).

Description of Variables:
Part 1, Offense Data, contains arrest information
covering the period after parole from the California Youth Authority
through the date of data collection. Variables include entry and
release dates to jail, prison, or probation, the most serious offense
and charge, total number of offenses for violent, property, and all
crimes, and dates of arrest, offense codes, and number of counts for
all arrests. These arrest data incorporate the arrest data contained
in EARLY IDENTIFICATION OF THE CHRONIC OFFENDER, [1978-1980:
CALIFORNIA] (ICPSR 8226) for all California Youth Authority cases in
the current study. Part 2, Arrest Data by Age and Year, contains
counts of arrest charges by type of offense (violent or nonviolent)
and by age and calendar year. Part 3, Arrest Data for Specific
Offenses, contains counts of more specific arrest charges for
four-year age blocks (from 18 through 30-plus) for 21 types of
offenses, including murder, assault, rape, robbery, burglary, theft,
forgery, arson, and drug possession. Variables include months of
street time, months of incarceration, and total arrests. Part 4,
Prison and Probation Data, contains information on prison or probation
terms and arrest and lifestyle characteristics for the year
immediately prior to and following jail or prison. Variables include
family criminal history, family life, education, entry and release
dates, offenses, treatment and training while incarcerated, gang
affiliation, psychological evaluation, drug use, employment history,
and marital status. Part 5, Social History Data, contains lifestyle
characteristics by age and year. Variables include drug and alcohol
use, marital status, living arrangements, and employment history. All
files contain age and race variables.

Response Rates:
Not applicable.

Presence of Common Scales:
None.

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

Standardized missing values.

Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release:1999-02-03

Version History:

2006-03-30 File CB2478.ALL.PDF was removed from any previous datasets and flagged as a study-level file, so that it will accompany all downloads.

2005-11-04 On 2005-03-14 new files were added to one
or more datasets. These files included additional setup files as well
as one or more of the following: SAS program, SAS transport, SPSS portable,
and Stata system files. The metadata record was revised 2005-11-04 to
reflect these additions.